Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a joint statement on Monday, September 22, the military-led West African states said that the court’s jurisdiction had “transformed into an instrument of neocolonial repression in the hands of imperialism.”
The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, is a permanent international tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It is intended to complement existing national judicial systems.
The aforementioned countries have accused the ICC of becoming “a global example of selective justice.”
The juntas say the ICC has over the years proven its incapability of prosecuting war crimes, the same argument they used to back their exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“The ICC has proven itself incapable of handling and prosecuting proven war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, and crimes of aggression,” the West African states said.
